Hi Don and John; Thank you for your interest and questions regarding the exhibits planned so far for the club's 2000 convention.

The only difference between "Competitive and Non-Competitive" is that a non-competitive exhibit will not be eligible for the prestigious People's Choice Award that visitors to the show will be casting their ballots. Some exhibitors choose not to compete for this award for various reasons. Among them are perhaps they have received many awards of this type over the years and prefer to let others have a shot at winning. Other reasons is that a particular exhibitor is simply interested in sharing his/her specialty with other club members in the hope that more collectors will become interested in that particular facet of our hobby.

As for the judging itself.... unfortunately, in the past, the club has been unable to recruit knowledgeable judges who are familiar with all fields of the casino collectibles hobby. The exhibits are not limited to just chips and tokens... but to ANY topic that pertains to casino collectibles. What the club is interested by offering such varied displays, is to present material to the viewing public that tells a story or holds the viewers interest that will encourage a viewer to vote for the display that impressed the most.

As an example of the various applications received to date... here are the titles of exhibits that will be on display in July:

"Clowning Around With Silver Strikes"
"I'll See Your Bet and Raise You 500"
"Casino Golf Balls"
"Striking Differences; The Stories Behind The Strikes"
"Antique Bone Game Chips"
"Colored Tokens"
"The Primadonna"

Of the above titles; two exhibits are entered in the non-competitive category.

As you can imagine... it would take an incredibly knowledgeable collector to be able to fairly judge the wide variety of exhibit topics as listed above. To come up with a panel of three or four competent judges ould be quite a challenge to assemble. Hope I've answered most of your questions.

I also hope that this brief overview will encourage other club members to think about submitting an exhibit on their specialty. It does not have to be a large display. One or two cases (which are provided by the club) that tell an interesting story, would be a big help. All exhibitors will receive an Apreciation Award for their participation that is suitable for framing.... plus a bonus surprise, in addition to the People's Choice Award, that won't be announced until all the votes are in. Get your applications in by June 1st.